Will the UK's Transport Industry Grind To A Halt in 2014?

Time is operating out for UK's commercial car drivers to complete 35 hours of approved coaching to gain their CPC qualification.

If you are not involved in the haulage sector, you are almost certainly not conscious of the new driver CPC guidelines. CPC stands for Certificate of Skilled Competence. Under a European Directive, most lorry drivers will will need to gain this qualification by September 2014. To get the qualification drivers want to attend 5 seven-hour approved courses covering fuel efficient driving, guidelines and regulations and wellness and safety.

Two years right after the clock began ticking the pace of coaching is alarmingly slow. There appears to be a number of causes. The strangest amongst some operators is the urban myth that " if no one does this they'll have to extend the deadline". This is possibly wishful thinking as this is a European Directive enshrined in UK law.

Yet another reason is that the current economic climate is making firms very reluctant to invest money on coaching of any description, and even way more reluctant to invest in a planned driver CPC education programme. They fear that drivers could leave taking their CPC accreditation with them, as it really is the driver's qualification, not the company's.

And why would they suddenly leave?

Their concern is that businesses who have created no provision for CPC training could supply improved terms to poach drivers who have their 35 hours of coaching completed. So the responsible employer pays for the training, and yet another firm could reap the rewards.

There is some early evidence to support this view. In 2009, one of our customers devised a 5 year plan to deliver seven hours of training every year, for five years. Two years in, and getting delivered 14 hours of CPC education to 200 drivers, 40 people today have already left the company. The 40 recently recruited replacements do not have a single hour of CPC coaching between them. His reaction has been to postpone the coaching till late 2014. His logic is that the later he leaves the coaching, the additional sure he can be that his investment will at least give him 200 qualified drivers. He hopes that there will then be limited opportunity for competitors desperate to recruit CPC qualified drivers ahead of the deadline, to poach is drivers. His final minute method will in all probability succeed for the reason that we are contracted to give the training, and we will assure that it is delivered. But for other suppliers who have a comparable program, or no program at all, the dangers are that there basically will not be the training capacity obtainable for the final minute rush.

We spoke to one provider final week who basically has not heard of CPC education and was shocked to acquire out what this means to their operation. The owner's initially reaction was to wash his hands of any responsibility. Ultimately it is the driver's responsibility to make certain that they get their 35 hours of coaching registered. But it did slowly dawn on him that it could possibly just after all be in his ideal interest to support his drivers with the education. Following the deadline, drivers and their employers can be fined if they drive without their Driver Qualification Card. This is issued to the driver as soon as the 35 hours of coaching have been registered with the DSA.

So will the UK haulage sector grind to a halt in September 2014? Will supermarket shelves be empty? It really is unlikely. The main distribution providers are creating the necessary level of investment now.

But hundreds of other distribution corporations might want to start thinking about the consequences of not being able to come across a training company able to accommodate them in the months leading up to the deadline.